How can prompts be structured to effectively guide LLMs in selecting and utilizing external tools for multi-step problem solving?
Each strategy structures the prompt differently to guide tool selection
Reasoning + Acting
Interleaves Thought → Action → Observation loops. The LLM reasons before each tool call.
Plan → Execute Pipeline
Plans the full tool chain upfront, then executes sequentially with data piping.
Decompose → Solve
Separates planning from execution. Breaks problems into sub-tasks, each using one tool.
Follow-up Question Routing
LLM asks itself follow-up questions, each routed to the most appropriate tool.
Intent → Route → Evaluate
Classifies query intent, routes dynamically, and uses confidence-based fallback.
Ask a question and compare how each strategy selects tools
User asks a natural language question
Strategy injects tool catalog, format rules, and reasoning instructions into prompt
LLM picks the right tool based on prompt structure
Tool runs, result feeds back, repeat until answer
Synthesized from all tool results